Month: December 2009

 Dining oIf you’re not invited to a swank private soiree, dining out is the easiest way to feel part of the end-of-the-year party. Plenty of places around town are offering holiday menus from prix fixe to just jazzed up, complimentary sparkling spirits for the midnight toast and live music. But be sure to make reservations. The last way you want to spend the evening is schlepping around town trying to find a table with all the other amateurs. We’d rather stay home and bang our own heads with pots and panIf you’re not invited to a swank private soiree, dining out is the easiest way to feel part of the end-of-the-year party. Plenty of places around town are offering holiday menus from prix fixe to just jazzed up, complimentary sparkling spirits for the midnight toast and live music. But be sure to make reservations. The last way you want to spend the evening is schlepping around town trying to find a table with all the other amateurs. We’d rather stay home and bang our own heads with pots and pans.If you’re not invited to a swank private soiree, dining out is the easiest way to feel part of the end-of-the-year party. Plenty of places around town are offering holiday menus from prix fixe to just jazzed up, complimentary sparkling spirits for the midnight toast and live music. But be sure to make reservations. The last way you want to spend the evening is schlepping around town trying to find a table with all the other amateurs. We’d rather stay home and bang our own heads with pots and pans.

Dining out

If you’re not invited to a swank private soiree, dining out is the easiest way to feel part of the end-of-the-year party. Plenty of places around town are offering holiday menus from prix fixe to just jazzed up, complimentary sparkling spirits for the midnight toast and live music. But be sure to make reservations. The last way you want to spend the evening is schlepping around town trying to find a table with all the other amateurs. We’d rather stay home and bang our own heads with pots and pans.

Stay the course

Prix fixe is really just a way to keep things simple and efficient for the servers and kitchen, but we like to think that these menus are a sign of restaurants going out of their way to print up a special piece of paper in a pretty font with the date on top just for us. As for options, you could go the decadent route at Palladio for $155, which gets you five courses paired with five Barboursville wines, including the Octagon VIII Edition 2005. A sip from that bottle alone is worth busting out your black tie (though, it’s optional). Also on the higher-end scale, both the The Boar’s Head Inn and Keswick Hall are offering two different dining and dancing options.  At the former, for $144, you can dine slowly over four courses or, for $97, head to the Pavilion Gala starting at 9pm and get down and dirty with the Kings of Swing while digging into hors d’oeuvres and the open bar. At Keswick, for $189, you can linger over seven courses or head straight down to the ballroom for a buffet spread and dancing to live music from the Project for $109.

You can spend a little less and still get stuffed on “duet of duckling” or one of the other entrées at the Ivy Inn, which is offering five courses for $65; one of the fine fusion creations at Ventana ($65 for four courses plus amuse-bouche and music); choice of an 8 oz. filet mignon at the Downtown Grille ($55 for three courses); or choice of local “Rag Mountain” trout with Champagne buerre blanc at the Local ($45 for four courses plus glass of Prosecco). And there are prix fixe options at Fellini’s No. 9 ($50), the X Lounge ($48) and Tavola ($70), to boot. All of the prices listed above are per person.

More of the same, but with a soundtrack

Other spots aren’t doing a full special menu or prix fixe, but will offer additional flare.

Mas is celebrating Bollywood Nights with the addition of east Indian-inspired tapas to the regular menu, plus a DJ. Rapture has special menu items plus PARTY R2010 at Club R2 next door with DJ Mega Myke. Escafé will have a shorter NYE menu, but with some adventurous new special entrees for the occasion and DJ eSc until 2am. Maya is having a few menu specials plus live flamenco music from Toma Que Toma. Aberdeen Barn has a quartet playing through dinner plus sparkling toast and party favors at midnight. Zinc will have a few special items on their tapas menu plus a midnight toast and possible DJ, and Bel Rio has Alligator, the local Grateful Dead tribute band ($25 tickets in advance or $35 at the door).—Katherine Ludwig

Dining in

Spending New Year’s Eve at home is not a bad thing. The safe, inexpensive option also means you can leave your slippers on, light all your Christmas candles and drink all the leftover booze. A few festive outsourcing ideas for turning your still-decked halls into a fresh, new year.—Lisa Reeder

Pizza pizzazz
Crank up your oven, assemble your toppings—but get the dough at Breadworks and some red sauce at Mona Lisa Pasta. If you’re entertaining little ones, make smaller “personal” pizzas—they might even eat something healthy if it’s buried under cheese.

Nacho night
Homemade Mexican food can have el sabor autentico if you outsource your salsa and chips. Check your favorite Mexican restaurant for carry-out chips and salsa options, and add them to an array of toppings for tacos or nachos.

Once you pop…
Partying with the foodies?  When made the old fashioned way, popcorn can be dressed up for the holidays. Try grated Everona Piedmont cheese, chopped flatleaf parsley, cracked pepper and a fine-grind sea salt, or go for a spin on Cracker Jack—roasted, sweetened peanuts and a drizzling of caramel. When the popcorn is gone, the bucket can become a wine chiller…or keep it by your bed in case you overindulge.

Guacamole: Turn the brown around
Assemble the “base” of your guacamole recipe ahead of time (onion, tomato, lime juice, cayenne, cilantro, garlic, and/or olive oil) and save the whole avocados ’til the last second. Tie on an apron and slice, scoop and mash on site—passing the bowl around for the “smooshing” will help you meet the crowd.

Go and get it
It’s sweet and crunchy, perfectly portable…and made locally in Troy, Virginia. Try Red Rocker Almond Toffee with Dark Chocolate (www.redrockercandy.com)—or any of their other concoctions —as a sweet hostess gift, a self-contained addition to a sweets table, or just a secret weapon in the glovebox of your car.

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Harrington disappearance remains a mystery

Morgan Harrington has been missing since October 17 when she left the Metallica concert at John Paul Jones Arena. Virginia State Police say the 20-year-old Roanoke native found herself outside the arena, and, due to its no re-entry policy, was denied admission. Though Harrington’s purse and cell phone were recovered by a passerby in Lannigan Field, a small parking lot close to JPJ, her whereabouts for that night place her, or somebody matching her appearance, at the intersection of Ivy and Copeley roads. State police also say Harrington was last seen hitchhiking—something her mother said she would never do—on Copeley Bridge. In the three ensuing months, a civilian search turned up no meaningful clues and despite a reward totaling $150,000 and coverage in national media from People magazine to “Nancy Grace,” few substantive leads have surfaced in the case. Leaving aside another newspaper’s recent injudicious reference to a “killer in our midst,” it remains simply unknown what happened to Morgan Harrington.

H1N1 flu scares the wits out of everyone

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 14 to 34 million cases of H1N1 hit the U.S. between April and October 17 of this year. Deaths, during the same period, are estimated from 2,500 to 6,000. The first death in Thomas Jefferson Health District related to the H1N1 virus was reported at the end of September. Meanwhile, some of the slow-to-arrive doses of the H1N1 vaccine have had to be recalled.

Patricia Kluge tries to cash out

The Wall Street Journal was first to report that the eponymous head of Kluge Estate Winery wants to unload her 23,538-square foot house for a cool hundred mil. Winery not included. Patricia Kluge’s Albemarle property includes 300 acres, a 45-room neo-Georgian main house with eight bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, a pool, a pool house, log cabin, a greenhouse, staff cottages, a theater, a library, and yes, croquet lawn. She says she’s downsizing and plans to build elsewhere on her property.

Creigh Deeds no match for Bob McDonnell

With only two gubernatorial races in 2009, all eyes were on New Jersey and Virginia, where, let’s be honest, the race was over before it even started. Republican candidate Bob McDonnell had a double-digit lead over Democratic counterpart Creigh Deeds going into Election Day and won with a shattering 59 percent of the vote, despite Deeds’ capturing 74 percent of the vote in Charlottesville. The Washington Post did all it could to help the Democratic campaign, first endorsing Deeds in the three-way primary and later uncovering McDonnell’s working-woman-bashing Christian college thesis. But Deeds wavering message did him in, despite these gifts.

Whitehead gets a major diss from Olbermann

A December 10 letter John Whitehead sent to Congressman Tom Perriello asking him to relocate his Charlottesville office for the sake of protesting constituents who were left to parade on the sidewalk instead of on private property landed Whitehead the coveted title of “worst person in the world” by MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann. For Whitehead, 60 steps, the distance between Perriello’s office to the sidewalk, hinder on the fundamental principle of the First Amendment right of protesting the federal government. Whitehead accepted Olbermann’s epithet graciously and, we imagine, with pride.

C-VILLE welcomes news tips from readers. Send them to news@c-ville.com.

INSTEAD OF…Losing weight.
RESOLVE TO…Vegetate. Says Jay Leno: “Now there are more overweight people in America than average-weight people. So overweight people are now average…which means you have met your New Year’s resolution.” Holy Spudnuts! Amen!

INSTEAD OF…Trying something new
RESOLVE TO…Not start what you can’t finish. Here’s looking at you, Landmark.

INSTEAD OF…Finding a better job.
RESOLVE TO…Find a job. Welcome to the era of lowered expectations. Economic recovery’s a bitch.

INSTEAD OF…Spending more time with family.
RESOLVE TO…Spend less time with Facebook. Tell Ma and Pa to get off your Friends List. Kick off Grandma, while you’re at it. No amount of bonding is worth being asked to join Meemaw’s Mafia.

INSTEAD OF…Quitting smoking.
RESOLVE TO…Quit reality TV. More addicting and potentially deadlier. Who would’ve thought subtracting 3 or 4 TiVo hours from your day could be so liberating?—Lucy Zhou

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1 Kaine stubs out restaurant smoke

On December 1, Tim Kaine stopped in at Hamiltons’ at First and Main on the Downtown Mall to celebrate the kick-off of the statewide restaurant smoking ban that went into effect that day. With 1,040 annual deaths in the state attributed to second-hand smoke and about $105.3 million a year in health care costs associated with it, too, Kaine’s move is as much about cost-saving as it is about public health. The only question remaining: Will restaurants put ashtrays near their entryways to accommodate the smokers huddled outside?

 

2 In upset, Rodney Thomas unseats David Slutzky

In a stunning turn, Albemarle Board of Supervisors Chairman David Slutzky, pictured, was ousted by Republican Rodney Thomas to represent the Rio District. Slutzky, a Democrat, may have been just too straight-shooting and too wonky for the job (transferable development rights, understood best by him and the former news editor of this paper, was a pet project, for instance). But Thomas’ win will undoubtedly mark a shift in land-use and development decisions the board will take up starting in January. Another change development-watchers will follow: Republican Duane Snow’s win for the Samuel Miller District means he’ll step in for Sally Thomas, who retired after 16 years on the board.

3 Times get tight for PVCC Pres. Frank Friedman

Tim Kaine cut the Virginia Community Colleges system, which includes Piedmont Virginia Community College, by 13 percent over the summer. Thanks to federal stimulus funds, which served to offset a portion, the final budget cut for PVCC was 6.9 percent, or $580,000. That was on top of two additional rounds of cuts over one year. These and previous cuts come at a time when enrollment is at an all-time high, having increased by more than 17 percent since 2005.

 

4 Public housing readies for facelift

After years of speculation, in May the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority began the master planning process for the redevelopment of the city’s public housing sites. Since then, consultants from Wallace Roberts & Todd (WRT) have been culling the requests, needs and desires of public housing residents. In a draft of the master plan, not surprisingly, Westhaven, the oldest and most populous of all city’s sites, will receive a top-to-bottom overhaul. Crescent Hall, pictured with CRHA director Randy Bickers, will be rehabbed, South First Street will get more units and Michie Drive will get pedestrian connections to the adjacent Kroger and future site of Whole Foods.

5 State piggy bank running low

The budget shortfall totaling $7.1 billion since November 2007 spurred Governor Tim Kaine to a staggering round of budget cuts that have been felt in every state and local agency.

Nearly 600 state employees have lost their jobs as of the cuts announced in September—not counting about 1,100 who lost their jobs in the past two years and 1,500 layoffs from the Virginia Department of Transportation. Public education has lost $37 million due to a decrease in sales tax revenues. And earlier this month, Kaine released his proposed 2010 budget. It includes $2.3 billion in cuts and eliminates 664 jobs, including at UVA.

6 Field of Perriello challengers crowded already

So far, seven Republicans—including Albemarle Supervisor Ken Boyd—have made  it known that they want Congressman Tom Perriello’s (pictured) job. Perriello’s paper-thin 727-vote margin of victory over incumbent Virgil Goode November 2008 makes him a vulnerable Democrat. Nationwide GOP leaders have already expressed an interest in this race, identifying him as one of five U.S. Representatives that they think they can pink-slip.

7 City has more scratch, County has less

The City of Charlottesville has ended the fiscal year with a surplus of $1.7 million in the Capital Improvement Program. Revenues in 2009 were over budget by $254,506, while expenditures were down more than $5 million. By stark contrast, Albemarle County is in deep financial trouble with its budget shortfall now at $5.7 million and counting, according to county executive Bob Tucker, pictured above, right. City Manager Gary O’Connell, pictured, might very well thank the revenue sharing agreement, from 1982: this year, $18 million will go from county to city—up 34 percent from 2008. Not that the county plans to stand by. Yet, the Albemarle School Board is legally fighting to get some of that money—$2.6 million—back.

 

8 D.C. commuter train already a hit

Score one for Meredith Richards. On September 30, the newly expanded, daily Amtrak passenger train that passes through Charlottesville and heads to Washington D.C., New York and Boston docked at the Amtrak station on West Main Street. Richards had led the charge for five years with her Cville Rail group. The Northeast Regional service is a result of the partnership between Norfolk Southern, Amtrak, the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) and CSX. It’s already surpassed expectations, with ridership nearly doubling predictions in the first month. “I couldn’t be more thrilled,” Richards said when service began. “I don’t think I’ve been this excited since my son was born almost 40 years ago.”

Also this year…

9 Despite controversy over its potential health dangers, artificial turf is finding its way to public high schools. In July, Monticello High School was the first school to install it, thanks to a $1.3 million anonymous gift to benefit all high schools.

And,

•    Charlottesville and Albemarle County won $500,000 to fund the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance to foster energy efficiency;

•    Alternative transportation activists found an unlikely friend in VDOT, which is cash-strapped to complete projects.

C-VILLE welcomes news tips from readers. Send them to news@c-ville.com.